WILLlMi 5. MARTI EM 
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OF 

WILLIAM S. MARTIEN. 

//7- 

A DISCOURSE 

DELIVERED IN THE 

ScDcntl) Presbyterian tljurrt), pijUci&dpljia, 

AT THE FUNERAL, APRIL 20. 1861. 
BY THE PASTOR 

Rev. JAMES M. CROWE LL. 

« • • 

PHILADELPHIA: 

18 61. 



TESTIMONIALS. 



At a meeting of the Session of the Seventh Presbyterian Church, 
the following preamble and resolutions were unanimously adopted : 

Whereas, In the mysterious Providence of God we have been 
called suddenly and soon to mourn the death of another of our 
colleagues, Mr. William S. Marteen, who for fifteen years discharged 
the office of Ruling Elder in this Church : therefore, 

Resolved, That in this event, the Presbyterian Church at large 
has occasion for deep regret, in consequence of the post of efficient 
usefulness which was occupied by the deceased, and the intimate 
relations which he sustained to the several benevolent agencies of 
the Church. 

Resolved, That while appreciating the loss sustained by the 
whole Church in his death, we feel that the bereavement with 
which we, as a Session, and a particular congregation, have been 
visited, is too great to be as yet fully realized. 

Resolved, That though this trial is severe, and has been sent by 
One who " bringeth the blind by a way that they know not," yet, we 
shall endeavour to receive it as the chastisement of our Heavenly 
Father's hand, intended for our spiritual good, and growth in 
grace; while we shall cherish a grateful remembrance of the 
kindness of God in permitting this church to enjoy so long 
the steadfast energy, and affectionate fidelity of his servant now 
" entered into rest." 

Resolved, That the pastor, the Rev. James M. Crowell, be requested 
to furnish for publication the funeral discourse delivered by him as 
a memorial, to be distributed among the families of this Church. 



At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Seventh Presby- 
terian Church, the following resolution was unanimously adopted : 

Resolved, That this Board desires to record their sense of the 
great loss which our church and congregation have sustained in 



4 



the decease of Mr. William S. Martien, for so many years a Trus- 
tee and Treasurer, whose unwearied and self-denying labours in 
their service, as well as his liberal contributions, must ever be 
held in grateful remembrance. 



At a special meeting of the Executive Committee of the Board 
of Domestic Missions of the Presbyterian Church, the following 
resolutions were unanimously adopted, viz. 

Resolved, That it is with profound regret the Committee have 
heard of the death of Mr. William S. Martien, with whom they 
have been so long and pleasantly associated. 

Resolved, That, in the death of this excellent brother, this 
Committee are deprived of one who, by his earnest and unflagging 
devotion to the cause of Missions, his wise counsels and punctual 
attendance upon the meetings of the Committee, has made their 
loss in his removal very great and difficult to be borne. 

Resolved, That they will cherish the memory of his example 
as an incentive to their zeal in the prosecution of the great work 
devolved upon them. 

Resolved, That they tender to his bereaved family the assu- 
rance of their sincere sympathy in the grievous loss they have 
sustained, while they rejoice with them in the abundant consola- 
tion that they sorrow not as others who have no hope. 

Resolved, That as a mark of respect, this Committee will, in 
their official capacity, attend the funeral of their late associate. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions, duly authenticatedj 
be presented to the family of Mr. Martien. 



FUNERAL SERVICE. 



We are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all 
our fathers : our days on the earth are as a shadow, and 
there is none abiding. Lord, make nie to know mine end, 
and the measure of my days, what it is: that I may 
know how frail I am. For I know that thou wilt bring 
me to death, and to the house appointed for all living. 

Jesus said unto her (Martha). I am the resurrection 
and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were 
dead, yet shall he live : and whosoever liveth and believ- 
eth in me, shall never die. I know that my Eedeemer 
liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day, upon 
the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this 
body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see 
for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another. 

I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, con- 
cerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not. even 
as others which have no hope. For if we believe that 
Jesus died, and rose again: even so them also which 
sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him. "Wherefore 
comfort, one another with these words. For I reckon that 

1* 



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the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be 
compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 

I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, 
blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, from hence- 
forth; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their 
labours, and their works do follow them. 

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, 
believe also in me. In my Father's house are many 
mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you: I go 
to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a 
place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto 
myself, that where I am there ye may be also. 

Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given 
me, be with me where I am ; that they may behold my 
glory. In thy presence is fulness of joy, at thy right 
hand there are pleasures for evermore. 

Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, 
but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twink- 
ling of an eye, at the last trump. For this corruptible 
must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on 
immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put 
on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on im- 
mortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that 
is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. death, 
where is thy sting? grave, where is thy victory? 
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the 
law. But thanks be to God who giveth us the victory 
through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

We know, that if our earthly house of this tabernacle 
were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not 
made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Therefore we 
are always confident, knowing that whilst we are at 
home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. We are 
confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the 
body, and to be present with the Lord. For to me to 



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live is Christ, and to die is gain. I am in a strait betwixt 
two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, 
which is far better; there the wicked cease from trou- 
bling, and there the weary are at rest. And there shall be 
no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall 
there be any more pain. And there shall be no night 
there, and they need no candle, neither light of the sun, 
for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign 
for ever and ever. 

God is in the midst of us once more, and the 
stroke of His hand is upon us. While agita- 
tion and alarm are around about us on every side 
in the world without, the voice of the Lord is 
heard speaking to us in the Church. But a few 
weeks since, a scene similar to the present was 
witnessed in this house of G-od, as we were 
gathered to pay the tribute of our sorrow to the 
memory of one of the elders of this church. Of 
those who, upon that occasion, officiated as pall- 
bearers, two have passed away from the scenes of 
this life. One of them, a ruling elder in a sister 
church, was laid in his last resting-place a few 
days ago; the other, a ruling elder in this 
church, we are now about to carry to his grave. 

We stand in consternation in the midst of 
these stern, solemn facts. We see the hand of 
the Lord moving mightily over our heads, and 
we are overwhelmed with a sense of our own 



8 

weakness, as we recognize the irresistible move- 
ments of His providence. Yea, " God hath 
spoken once — twice have we heard this — that 
power belongeth unto God." Power, which 
when it is lifted up against us, stuns and startles 
us, and causes us to be " dumb and open not our 
mouth," because the Lord is doing it. how 
the clouds gather in the sky above us, and how 
the darkness thickens around about us, as we 
hear the voice of the Almighty speaking to us 
from off His hidden throne, "Be still, and 
know that I am God!" 

We mourn to-day the loss of a valuable man. 
And perhaps the prevalent feeling with us is that 
of strange bewilderment, because of the sudden- 
ness of his departure from among_us^/ In the 
very last week, he was engaged in the active 
duties of life, apparently in the enjoyment of 
health, mingling with his friends, without any 
thought of dying soon, and discharging with his 
usual fidelity all the trusts committed to him. 
In the midnight hour, before the coming of the 
last Sabbath, however, he was seized with a 
severe attack of disease, and with terrible rapidity 
its fatal work went on, until the afternoon of 
Tuesday, when his spirit passed away. So 
speedily was his removal accomplished, that 



9 



many in the large circle of his acquaintance, who 
would have hastened to his side immediately had 
they known of his illness, knew nothing of it, 
until the painful announcement fell upon them 
that he was gone from the scenes of life, into the 
immediate presence of Grod. / 

Mr. William Stockton Martien was bom 
on the 20th of June, 1798, and belonged to a 
family of Huguenot descent. His mother reached 
the advanced age of ninety-one, but when he was 
an infant of only six weeks, he lost his father. 
Yet. though left to enter upon life without his 
counsel and aid, the blessing which that father 
gave him when dying, seemed to go with him 
through all his subsequent career of success and 
influence. 

In the year 1828, he engaged in business, in 
partnership with 3Ir. James Russell, and this 
connection was continued until 1834. during all 
of which time, according to the testimony of the 
surviving partner, not the slightest difficulty ever 
occurred to mar their friendship or good feeling. 
So amiable and kind was his disposition, that it 
was impossible for any but the most pleasant 
relations to be maintained with him. He was 
universally popular with those in his employment; 
and his partner in the early period of his life, 



10 

continued to the very last hour of it to be his 
intimate friend. 

In 1830, in connection with some other gentle- 
men, he engaged in the establishment of the Pres- 
byterian, at a period when such an enterprise 
was attended with great difficulty; and from the 
year 1834 until the present time continued to be its 
chief proprietor and publisher. Upon his energy 
and determination the existence of that valuable 
newspaper in its early inception very materially 
depended. And if they who have been so long 
identified with it, have been enabled to accom- 
plish anything for the glory of God, and the 
interest of the Redeemer's kingdom, through its 
columns, during the thirty years of its history, 
by their steadfast advocacy of the doctrines and 
polity of the Presbyterian Church T it has been 
owing, to a very great extent, to the enterprise 
and efficiency with which Mr. Martien conducted 
the operations which were under his management. 

In 1833 he commenced the publication of 
religious books, a business in which he was 
actively engaged till the time of his death. The 
works issued by his house have always been of 
a standard religious character, and the whole 
Church can testify to the fidelity and conscien- 
tiousness with which the trust was discharged. 



11 

But it was not only in connection with these 
efficient agencies of usefulness that he faithfully 
served the Church and the world. As a mem- 
ber of the Executive Committee of the Board of 
Domestic Missions, his earnest devotion and wise 
counsels have long been regarded as an element 
of great value to that cause. He was, besides 
these, very intimately related to the Board of Pub- 
lication of the Presbyterian Church. In the early 
infancy of this excellent Institution in 1833, in 
the days of its feeble incipiency, when there was 
much misgiving, and yet strong faith concerning 
it, he extended to it a helping hand. It was 
then called "The Presbyterian Tract and Sab- 
bath-school Book Society," and he was the first 
publisher of its issues. When located at the cor- 
ner of Seventh and George streets, the operations 
of the Society were carried on in the upper room 
of his establishment, by those more immediately 
engaged in it, while a few shelves were reserved 
in the book-store below, for the tracts which were 
issued for distribution in the Church. And from 
that time until his death, he continued to serve 
the Board by appointment of the General Assem- 
bly, as a most faithful and efficient member. 
Through all the history of its expanding useful- 
ness, as one of the beneficent agencies of the 



12 



Church, he was ever seen standing by it, in the 
sunshine and in the storm, as its firm and earnest 
supporter. 

There was still one other department of useful- 
ness in which Mr. Martien accomplished a most 
valuable work. I refer to his connection with 
this particular church. The place in which we 
are assembled on this sad occasion, this very 
house of God, may well claim to be one of the 
monuments of his large-hearted and generous 
devotion to the good of Zion. It is well known 
that this church was originally styled the " Inde- 
pendent Tabernacle/' and worshipped in Ran- 
stead Court, between Fourth and Fifth, and 
Chestnut and Market streets. When the con- 
gregation extended a call for the pastoral services 
of the Rev. Dr. William M. Engles, its ecclesiasti- 
cal connection was transferred, and it then became 
the " Seventh Presbyterian Church " Among 
others who connected themselves with the church 
at that time, was the family of Mr. Martien, 
whose membership had previously been with the 
First Presbyterian Church, under the care of the 
Rev. Dr. James P. Wilson. During the pastorate 
of the Rev. Dr. Engles, he made a profession of 
religion, April 18th, 1830, was afterwards chosen 
to the office of deacon in the church, and, subse- 



13 



quently, in the year 1846, he was elected and 
ordained ruling elder, in which office he con- 
tinued to serve until his death. 

When the matter of leaving Ranstead Court 
and building a church edifice in another locality 
was agitated in the congregation, Mr. Martien 
favoured the removal, and among others took a 
very prominent and influential part in the whole 
enterprise. He devoted himself to it with earn- 
est fidelity, and shared very largely in the 
responsibilities which arose from the erection of 
the new church. In all the operations con- 
nected with the transfer of the old property 
and the removal of the congregation to the pre- 
sent locality on Broad street in 1843, he filled 
a post of much toil and of most efficient useful- 
ness. And from that time until the very close 
of his life, he served this church, and sought 
in every way to promote its interests with a 
steadfastness that never faltered, with a devo- 
tion that never grew weary. He was always 
ready to respond with cheerful alacrity to every 
reasonable application that was made to him for 
aid in any good work that was going on in the 
Church. The Sabbath-schools and the Mission- 
schools belonging to the congregation found in 
him a warm and generous friend. It was en- 
2 



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couraging to those who were more particularly 
engaged in them to seek his help, for they were 
sure to receive it. He favoured the largest 
liberality in plans and purposes of doing good, 
and regarded it as the mission of the Church of 
Christ to be actively engaged in one way or 
another in the work of spreading the Gospel 
throughout the whole world, among the heathen 
at our doors, and among those that are far 
away. 

Every Christian pastor appreciates the strength 
which is derived from the hearty alliance of 
those who hold spiritual office in the Church in 
all matters pertaining to the aggressive mission 
and work of the Body of Christ ; and one of the 
most pleasant remembrances which it. is my sad 
privilege to cherish concerning the official posi- 
tion of Mr. Martien, is that of the generous sup- 
port which he rendered to every good cause. 
He frequently expressed the sentiment to me, 
that when an application was made to a Chris- 
tian from any worthy source, a favour was con- 
ferred upon him who was asked to give, and not 
upon him who was to receive. The Boards of 
the Presbyterian Church were especially very 
near to his heart, and he also took a lively inte- 
rest in the matter of aiding feeble churches 



15 



throughout the country; of many a Christian 
sanctuary in our land may it be said that he 
"took pleasure in the stones thereof while in 
times of emergency and appeal for help, it gave 
him great delight to step forward at once with 
a liberal offering. As an illustration of this, I 
may allude to the deep interest which he mani- 
fested in the recent wonderful work among the 
French Canadians in Illinois. He took hold of 
that matter with remarkable energy, received a 
very large portion of the contributions which 
were made to the cause, both in money and in 
clothing, and attended to their distribution at a 
great sacrifice of time and labour. No one can 
ever tell how many objects of Christian sympathy 
and aid received a blessing at his hands in quiet 
unobtrusive ways when none knew anything about 
it. Truly, if "the Lord loveth a cheerful giver/ ' 
there was a place for him in that Divine love. 

But I cannot dwell on these things. I may 
only say that the loss which we, as a Christian 
Church and congregation, sustain in his death, is 
greater far than we can now estimate. We shall 
discover the extent of it, and shall feel the 
severity of it as the days roll on. May God 
sanctify the bereavement to us as a Church. 
May these companions of the departed in the 



16 



eldership, now once again stricken and reduced 
in number, be sustained by the grace of God, 
and grow more faithful still as Death breaks in 
upon them; and may all the beloved members of 
this Church draw nearer to Him whose hand has 
been lifted up against them; for though " clouds 
and darkness are round about Him/* still "whom 
the Lord loveth he chasteneth." And, after all, 
it is only for our profit, that we may be "par- 
takers of His holiness." 

This afflictive dispensation is one of a series of 
Providential dealings which seems to call for the 
earnest consideration of the Church. In this 
particular congregation we have had frequent 
occasions recently to grieve because of the 
ravages of Death among us. We have been 
called to bury those whose vacated places it 
makes us sad to behold. And though they gave 
evidence that they were the Lord's, and were 
ready to go and be for ever with Him, yet they 
were efficient labourers in his vineyard, and we 
feel that we have suffered loss in their removal. 
And with reference to the Church in a more 
extended capacity, how much occasion is there 
for lamentation in the bereavements which she 
has recently been called to experience ! In the 
ranks of the ministry, some of the most eminent 



17 

standard-bearers of our Church, have fallen on 
the field, and we have been compelled frequently 
to sit down and weep for the Princes of Israel 
who have been taken from us. 

And in the ranks of the eldership there have 
also been many falling. Standing in posts of 
usefulness and influence, entrusted with the con- 
fidence and crowned with the honour of those 
who were associated with them, pronounced to be 
good and true and faithful men, still, God has 
called to them to come up higher and live with 
him. Especially have the ecclesiastical Boards, 
which we prize and cherish as agencies of our 
organic labour for the coming of the kingdom, 
been deprived of some of their most valuable 
members. Men who have been identified with 
these great benevolent enterprises for a long 
period of years, have been snatched away from 
them — men in the midst of large secular and 
professional engagements, and " diligent in busi- 
ness" but still " fervent in spirit and serving the 
Lord/'' We have an illustration of this before 
us to-day. We have lost one concerning whom 
we felt that we could not spare him. And in 
regard to all this series of losses, it surely be- 
comes us to bow down in lowliness before the 
Lord, and say, u Remove thy stroke away from 

9* 



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us, for we are consumed by the blow of thy 
hand!" 

But let us not fail, in the pain of our bereave- 
ment, to recognize the grace of God which 
appears in the midst of it. The loss and the 
sorrow are all ours; the everlasting gain, how- 
ever, belongs to him who has departed from us. 
There is substantial consolation in the evidence 
afforded that he was a careful, conscientious 
Christian, maintaining a walk of exemplary piety, 
and making God's service the work and enjoy- 
ment of his life. And the grace that was with 
him in life continued to manifest itself in death. 
His dying scene was one of calmness and com- 
posure. In full possession of his faculties, he met 
without alarm the approach of the last enemy. 
With quiet, uncomplaining patience,"he bore all 
that it pleased his Heavenly Father to send upon 
him, and serenely strengthened himself in God 
for the conflict through which he was required 
to pass. 

One of his colleagues in the eldership, a life- 
long companion and friend, a brother to him in 
affection, as well as a brother in Jesus, entered 
his room on the morning of the day in which he 
died, and found him in a calm, intelligent, 
prayerful state of mind. A short time after- 



19 



wards, it was my own sad privilege to spend 
a few moments by his side; and, though very 
much reduced, he yet gave expression to a peace- 
ful reliance upon the righteousness of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and an assurance of his precious- 
ness to him. In a few hours more, he gave 
evidence of sinking more rapidly still, and then, 
as the shadows came on, and his steps went down 
into the valley, there lingered still with him a 
gentle and peaceful composure, which seemed to 
be like the sleep that God giveth his beloved. 
And so he passed away ! 

" So fades a summer cloud away, 

So sinks the gale when storms are o'er, 
So gently shuts the eye of day, 
So dies a wave along the shore." 

"And I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto 
me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the 
Lord from henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, that 
they may rest from their labours ; and their works 
do follow them." Peaceful, holy, precious words ! 
how sweetly do they come to us out of heaven 
to-day, and with what tender consolation do they 
cheer the stricken hearts that are bowed before 
God in this great bereavement! 

What a positive blessedness, my brethren, does 



20 



death bring to the believer ! And in this time of 
fearful calamity in our national affairs, when the 
clang of arms seems about to fill the land, and the 
voice of angry contention is borne upon the air, 
how much does a Christian's dying seem like 
"entering into rest!" Surely we cannot but feel 
that the righteous who go home to God "are 
taken away from the evil to come." Blessed are 
they who, from the toil and strife of the Church 
militant, and from the anxieties of an agitated 
world, are translated into the calm repose and 
exalted glories of the Church triumphant. Bless- 
ed in this way is the soul which so lately dwelt 
in this now forsaken tabernacle of the flesh. Far 
from all tumults and perplexities, "the labours of 
his mortal life have ended in a large reward." 

Let all of us, therefore, who feel Ehat we are 
called by the providence of God to the ex- 
perience of sorrow, find comfort in the blessedness 
which God has given to the departed. Let this 
afflicted Church, and this large circle of friends, 
and companions, and acquaintances, and co- 
labourers in the kingdom of Jesus, and especially 
let the bereaved relatives, who have lost the 
strong staff on which they leaned, let them all 
remember what it is "to die in the Lord;" and 
let them carry in their hearts the sweet memory 



21 

of what it has been in this ease. Never did 
evening shadows lengthen more quietly than this 
faithful man sunk to his rest. And "they which 
are fallen asleep in Christ are not perished;" for 
"the souls of believers are at their death made 
perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into 
glory* and their bodies, being still united to 
Christ, do rest in their graves till the resur- 
rection. " Who can tell the joyousness of such a 
transition! — Passing into glory! And how in- 
stantaneous! "Absent from the body," and, 
thereupon, "present with the Lord." No long, 
tiresome walk through a dark and lonely valley; 
no weary flight upward, as of a bird whose wing 
faints and quivers with fatigue; but the eager 
passage of the unfettered spirit, without delay, 
into a congenial Paradise. For the , believer, 
robed in the Saviour's righteousness, to die, is 
but to awaken in the likeness of God ; it is but to 
cease looking "through a glass darkly," and to 
open the eyes in the beatitude of an immediate 
vision upon the enthroned Mediator; it is but to 
close the ears upon all the discords, and male- 
dictions, and sounds of woe, which fill the earth, 
and to open them on the peaceful harmonies of 
heaven. Oh that better land beyond the flood ! 
"Violence shall no more be heard in it; wasting 



22 



nor destruction within its borders : but its walls 
sball be called Salvation, and its gates Praise. 
There the sun shall no more go down, neither 
shall the moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shall 
be our everlasting light, and the days of our 
mourning shall be ended." 

And now, as with becoming solemnity we go 
and lay these earthly remains in the place of 
their resting, let us listen to the call which comes 
to us so often from the graves of those we cherish, 
u Arise ye, and depart, for this is not your rest." 
Not our rest! — no! we live in tabernacles 
only and in tents. Day after day we are nearing 
home, and soon we shall be there. The storms of 
human passion are raging around us, and the 
world is becoming more and more a foreign land 
every day we live. Changes and commotion 
meet us all, and God seems to be so ordering 
events as to keep us ever longing for our Father's 
house on high. Our graves are, by far, the most 
permanent of our dwellings. Well, then, may 
we " groan, being burdened. Not for that we 
would we unclothed; but clothed upon, that mor- 
tality might be swallowed up of life." We know 
who it is that has gone to prepare a place for us. 
We know on what rock our heavenly mansion is 
founded. 



23 



May God help us to remember always that we 
are living on the borders of eternity; that in a 
moment we may be numbered with the dead. 
And that the passing away of the loved, and 
the useful, and the honoured, from our com- 
panionship, may be so sanctified to us, that we 
shall look upon all our earthly experience — our 
joys and our sorrows — in the light of that better 
portion which is offered to us in the gospel of 
Christ. 

"Brethren, arise! 
Let us go hence — 
What are earth's joys and gems ? 
What are its diadems? 
Our crowns are waiting us 
"Within our Father's house. 
Our friends above the skies 
Are bidding us, Arise! 
Oar Lord, He calls away 
To scenes of brighter day 
Than this sad earth can know. 
Lei us arise and goi" 



ffllSilY 0F CONGRESS 



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